San Jose

Storm Causes Outage in San Jose, Hazards in Santa Cruz Mountains

A soggy night across the Bay Area turned into a pitch black night for many in the South Bay.

Heavy rains Tuesday caused all sorts of problems for drivers, homeowners and emergency crews. In San Jose’s Cambrian Park neighborhood, thousands suddenly found themselves without power.

The outage began at 7:15 p.m., affecting more than 3,400 customers. Homes, streetlights and even stoplights went dangerously dark. There was no estimated time for power to be restored, PG&E officials said.

Over the hill in Felton, just outside of Santa Cruz, drivers crept slowly through areas where still other power outages occurred as a result of the storm. Resident Jessica Ellis was prepared.

"We’ve got candles and stocked up with food," she said. "We know it’s going to be raining for several days."

In the Loma Prieta area of the Santa Cruz Mountains, gusty winds accompanied the first wave of the storm. The rain was steady most of the evening. Cal Fire kept watch for mudslides where the Loma Fire swept through last fall.

"We’re really worried that mudslides could happen," Ellis said. "We’ve had some storms already, but this could slide."

Along Highway 9, a mudslide broke loose a large tree that blocked half of Felton Empire Road. Cal Fire crews worked quickly to clear the road.

"It’s really bad out," Felton resident Karen Ehrlich said. "I’m just going to go home and hole up."

Contact Us